About Mitch

Mitch McConnell's illustrious Senate career first began in 1984 when he became the first Republican to win a statewide race in Kentucky since 1968. That year, McConnell was the only Republican in the country to defeat a Democratic incumbent. Since then McConnell has been reelected by the people of Kentucky four times with the greatest margin of victory - 65 percent - in the last election, making it the biggest Republican landslide in the state's history. The previous record had been held by famed Senator John Sherman Cooper. In June of 2005, McConnell surpassed another record set by Cooper by becoming the longest-serving Republican Senator from Kentucky. On November 15, 2006 McConnell was unanimously elected Republican Leader in the 110th Congress by his colleagues making him only the second Senator from Kentucky in history to lead his party in the U.S. Senate.

Before being elected Republican Leader, McConnell had been selected by his Republican colleagues as the Majority Whip, the second ranking Republican in the Senate, in the 108th and 109th Congresses. McConnell also chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the 1998 and 2000 election cycles. He currently serves as a senior member of the Appropriations, Agriculture, and Rules Committees.

McConnell was born February 20, 1942 and raised in south Louisville. In 1964 he graduated with honors from the University of Louisville. During his time at the University of Louisville, McConnell served as the president of the student body for the College of Arts and Sciences. He graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1967, where he was elected president of the Student Bar Association. McConnell gained experience working on Capitol Hill as an intern for Senator John Sherman Cooper. In 1968, McConnell took the position of chief legislative assistant to Senator Marlow Cook. Later he served as a deputy assistant attorney general under President Gerald R. Ford. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, McConnell served as County Judge-Executive (the elected Chief Executive Officer) in Jefferson County (Louisville), Kentucky, from 1978 until he was sworn in to the Senate on January 3, 1985.

Senator McConnell is married to United States Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, a former president of the United Way of America and director of the Peace Corps. Senator McConnell is the proud father of three daughters, Elly, Claire, and Porter.